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0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 All around a great Book for beginnersOct 05, 2003
Now When I read this I was just a beginner, Now I'm a Upper novice at best.
All around it gives useful information to those of us that aren't computer techs, and certainly wouldn't know a MB from a KB.
Its easy to read. As well as easy to remember.
I recommend this book to many many people for the simple fact its Just that good.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Save your money...Sep 09, 2001
This book is a disjointed collection of information freely available on a number of internet sites. It has little order, logic or useful (correct) information. After reading it, it became clear the author knows absolutely nothing about computer security, and the publisher did not employ a technical editor. The book is poorly organized, the information insufficient and after reading this a novice will be wide open to attack. Misinformation can be more dangerous than complete ignorance, the scary part is that novices reading this book don't know that they are being misinformed and may take the information as gospel. As for the author's statement "It is not my intention that this book offer hackers...specific recipes that show them precisely how, step-by-step, to steal information, break security, or otherwise do damage to others. Therefore, I describe various hacking techniques in general terms but usually do not provide the explicit details of the process itself." There are several books that provide explicit details of hacking techniques, this is necessary and teaches people how to defend themselves against specific attacks. So the idea that the author is trying to keep dangerous information out of criminal hands is ridiculous, the author is most likely trying to avoid explaining a subject that he obviously does not understand himself.
There are a number of books that do a better job of introducing the concepts of security to a beginner, avoid this one.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Save your money...Sep 09, 2001
This book is a disjointed collection of information freely available on a number of internet sites. It has little order, logic or useful (correct) information. After reading it, it became clear the author knows absolutely nothing about computer security, and the publisher did not employ a technical editor. The book is poorly organized, the information insufficient and after reading this a novice will be wide open to attack. Misinformation can be more dangerous than complete ignorance, the scary part is that novices reading this book don't know that they are being misinformed and may take the information as gospel. As for the author's statement "It is not my intention that this book offer hackers...specific recipes that show them precisely how, step-by-step, to steal information, break security, or otherwise do damage to others. Therefore, I describe various hacking techniques in general terms but usually do not provide the explicit details of the process itself." There are several books that provide explicit details of hacking techniques, this is necessary and teaches people how to defend themselves against specific attacks. So the idea that the author is trying to keep dangerous information out of criminal hands is ridiculous, the author is most likely trying to avoid explaining a subject that he obviously does not understand himself.
There are a number of books that do a better job of introducing the concepts of security to a beginner, avoid this one.
 Don't Judge This Book By Its CoverAug 06, 2001
Tsk,tsk, Sybex! The graphics and title of this book misrepresent the contents inside. The cover's funky neon design jumps at you shouting, "CAUTION, WARNING -- DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!!". The subtitle promises to "Shield Your Computer From Internet Crime" -- Hey, they even provide little green men on the cover to stomp on those bad guys. But does it deliver? On page 24, the author gives you a CLUE as to how much you are going to learn, "It is not my intention that this book offer hackers...specific recipes that show them precisely how, step-by-step, to steal information, break security, or otherwise do damage to others. Therefore, I describe various hacking techniques in general terms but usually do not provide the explicit details of the process itself." What you end up with is basically a glorified dictionary on computer hacking: Want to know what a hacker is?, a cracker? Here's a bunch of ways you could get attacked. Here's some terminology... a Glorified Dictionary--get the idea! This book wouldn't have been half bad with a title such as an introduction to...a beginner's guide.... a dummy's/idiot's guide, etc. And as the "Dummy" publishers know, there is a market for this type of book. But don't get my heart racing thinking I'm going on a date with Raquel only to find out it's gonna be Bertha! (apologies to Berthas everywhere). So let's assume this is like one of the [above] books, how then does it deliver. Well, on the down side I found no logic in the order the topics were presented (at least in a dictionary you have alphabetical order). On the plus side the author's style of writing was casual and entertaining as well as being clear and easily understandable. And there were a few BASIC things shown to help ward off an attack. All in all, if someone wants to begin to understand what all this hacking stuff is all about, this is a good place to start. You can either read it all in an evening or spend a few days reading it during the commercials of a hockey game and come away with learning some of the BASIC things Hackers do. Borrow this book from the Library first, then decide if it offers you enough info about hacking to warrant purchasing it!
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Don't Judge This Book By Its CoverAug 06, 2001
Tsk,tsk, Sybex! The graphics and title of this book misrepresent the contents inside. The cover's funky neon design jumps at you shouting, "CAUTION, WARNING -- DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!!". The subtitle promises to "Shield Your Computer From Internet Crime" -- Hey, they even provide little green men on the cover to stomp on those bad guys. But does it deliver? On page 24, the author gives you a CLUE as to how much you are going to learn, "It is not my intention that this book offer hackers...specific recipes that show them precisely how, step-by-step, to steal information, break security, or otherwise do damage to others. Therefore, I describe various hacking techniques in general terms but usually do not provide the explicit details of the process itself." What you end up with is basically a glorified dictionary on computer hacking: Want to know what a hacker is?, a cracker? Here's a bunch of ways you could get attacked. Here's some terminology... a Glorified Dictionary--get the idea! This book wouldn't have been half bad with a title such as an introduction to...a beginner's guide.... a dummy's/idiot's guide, etc. And as the "Dummy" publishers know, there is a market for this type of book. But don't get my heart racing thinking I'm going on a date with Raquel only to find out it's gonna be Bertha! (apologies to Berthas everywhere). So let's assume this is like one of the Moron books, how then does it deliver. Well, on the down side I found no logic in the order the topics were presented (at least in a dictionary you have alphabetical order). On the plus side the author's style of writing was casual and entertaining as well as being clear and easily understandable. And there were a few BASIC things shown to help ward off an attack. All in all, if someone wants to begin to understand what all this hacking stuff is all about, this is a good place to start. You can either read it all in an evening or spend a few days reading it during the commercials of a hockey game and come away with learning some of the BASIC things Hackers do. Borrow this book from the Library first, then decide if it offers you enough info about hacking to warrant purchasing it!
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based on 11 reviews
